ARA Santa Fe (S-21)
|Ship builder=Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut |Ship laid down=6 January 1944 |Ship launched=19 November 1944 |Ship acquired=1 July 1971 from the United States Navy |Ship fate=Disabled and captured by British forces on 25 April 1982 at South Georgia Island during Falklands War and later scuttled }} |module2= 2,440 tons (2,480 t) submerged |Ship length= U.S. Submarines Since 1945 pp. 242 |Ship beam= |Ship draft= |Ship propulsion=4 × diesel engines with a snorkel, driving electrical generators GUPPY type batteries, 504 cells (1 × 184 cell, 1 × 68 cell, and 2 × 126 cell batteries) 2 × low-speed direct drive electric motors two propellers |Ship speed=Surfaced: *18.0 knots (33.3 km/h) maximum *13.5 knots (25.0 km/h) cruising Submerged: *16.0 knots (29.6 km/h) for ½ hour *9.0 knots (16.7 km/h) snorkeling *3.5 knots (6.5 km/h) cruising |Ship range=15,000 nm (28,000 km) surfaced at 11 knots (20 km/h) |Ship endurance=48 hours at 4 knots (7.4 km/h) submerged |Ship complement=9–10 officers 5 petty officers 70 enlisted men |Ship sensors=WFA active sonar JT passive sonar Mk 106 torpedo fire control system |Ship armament=10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) }} }} The ARA ''Santa Fe'' was an Argentine ''Balao''-class submarine which was lost during the Falklands War. Built during the Second World War, the submarine served in United States Navy as before being commissioned into the Argentine Navy in 1971. She served until 1982 when she was captured by the British at South Georgia after being seriously damaged and subsequently sank along a pier, with just her sail visible above the waterline. The submarine was raised, towed out of the bay and scuttled in deep waters in 1985. History U.S. Navy service The submarine was built during the Second World War by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut, USA and was launched on 19 November 1944. Commissioned into the US Navy as , the submarine entered service in March 1945. As Catfish the submarine took part in the closing stages of the Pacific war against Japan. Afterwards she served in the US 7th fleet in the Pacific Ocean seeing service in the Korean War. After this period the boat was given a Guppy II conversion. In 1971, Catfish was decommissioned and sold to Argentina where she was renamed ARA Santa Fe. Argentine service In 1982, the Santa Fe took part in the Falklands War ( ) alongside the [[ARA San Luis|ARA San Luis]], the only two operative submarines in the Argentine Navy. The Santa Fe supported the Argentine invasion by landing tactical divers on Yorke Bay, who marked the beach for the main amphibious force and seized the lighthouse. Later she departed from the islands and stayed on station in the nearby area as a large British task force approached the South Atlantic. On 12 April, the Santa Fe was ordered to ferry a party of marines based at Puerto Belgrano and supplies to Grytviken, in South Georgia. She departed from Mar del Plata on the first hours of 17 April.Bóveda, Jorge (2007). La Odisea del submarino Santa Fe. IPN editores, pp. 79-90. ISBN 978-950-899-073-0 On 23 April the Royal Navy ships, ; ; ; and the ice patrol boat were sent to retake the island of South Georgia with a detachment of Royal Marines and Special Boat Service commandos. The threat of Santa Fe forced the British ships to keep a distance as they landed troops on the island. The Santa Fe accomplished the resupply mission and landed the marine troops on 25 April. Members of the Argentine garrison had salvaged a crippled BAS launch, which was used to download the cargo.Bóveda, pp. 105-106 and 122 Some hours later, after leaving Grytviken, Santa Fe was detected on radar by Lieutenant Chris Parry, the observer of the Westland Wessex HAS.3 anti-submarine helicopter from , and attacked with depth charges. This attack caused extensive internal damage, including the splitting of a ballast tank, the dismounting of electrical components and shocks to the machinery. As the submarine struggled to return to Grytviken on the surface, launched a Westland Wasp HAS.1 helicopter, and launched a Westland Lynx HAS.2. The Lynx dropped a Mk 46 torpedo, which failed to strike home, but strafed the submarine with its pintle-mounted 7.62 mm L7 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). The Wessex also fired on the Santa Fe with its GPMG. The Wasp from HMS Plymouth as well as two other Wasps launched from fired AS-12 air-to-surface anti-ship missiles at the submarine scoring hits. Santa Fe's men and the marines onshore attempted to fight off the attack by firing their rifles, machine guns and an [[Bantam (missile)|old Bantam antitank missile]] on the aircraft, but the Argentine boat was damaged badly enough to prevent her from submerging or even from sailing away. The crew abandoned the listing submarine at the jetty at King Edward Point on South Georgia and surrendered, along with the Argentine garrison, to the British forces.Bóveda, pp. 110-123 Brilliant's diving officer, Lt. Chris Sherman, went down to place a charge to disable the submarine further, and blew off its rudder. Whilst under guard on the submarine by a British Royal Marine, Argentine Navy Petty Officer Felix Artuso, was mistakenly shot dead on 26 April while a prisoner of war and his body is buried at Grytviken Cemetery. http://www.wildisland.gs/sgcems/gd09a.htm He was shot in the belief he was trying to sabotage the vessel. According to some members of her crew, in the middle of the confusion that followed the incident, a number of valves and hatchways were left open, the submarine flooded and sank alongside the pier, with only her combat-damaged conning tower showing above the surface.Luego de atracar, y aprovechando la distracción de los británicos por un incidente que le había costado la vida al suboficial Félix Artuso, tripulantes del submarino lograron burlar la guardia y abrieron disimuladamente válvulas y escotillas de la nave, provocando su hundimiento. No sólo el ''Santa Fe quedó así inutilizable: también el muelle.'' [http://www.lanacion.com.ar/202442 La Nacion newspaper: La guerra que no se vió] 6 April 1997 [http://www.rna-10-area.co.uk/images/sail3.jpg#prof Wreckage of the Santa Fe] After the conflict had ended, the Santa Fe was considered to be worthless as a war prize because she was non-standard, obsolete, badly damaged and too expensive to repair. As a result, the submarine was temporarily raised by the British, towed into deep water and scuttled on 10 February 1985. See also *Argentine Submarine Force References Category:Balao-class submarines of the Argentine Navy Category:Ships built in Connecticut Category:1944 ships Category:Cold War submarines of Argentina Category:Falklands War naval ships of Argentina Category:Mar del Plata Category:Falklands War in South Georgia Category:Submarines sunk by aircraft Category:Maritime incidents in 1982 Category:Shipwrecks of the Falklands War Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Argentine Navy